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30th of December and it's getting near To New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and It's my last day in Calcutta this is a House where I lived for nearly 20 years Of my life Top floor flat in the corner there was Where My mother and Four sisters and myself lived for many Many years And it was in 63 that I Left Calcutta went to Hong Kong and Danced to the UK so this is a very Nostalgic trip I visited my old house so Moving on this is Calcutta and Calcutta Of course is such a busy Iconic place Has a lot of associations with the British Raj because this is where the Brits founded the East India Company and Made the British Empire and India was a Large part of it this is the church Where I used to go as a young boy I Attended this Sunday school here so all These old landmarks brought back some Very interesting and I dare say happy Memories for the most part they're very Happy Everything Has Changed nothing ever Stays the same the more scenes of Calcutta This is a very common sight food sellers On the road Another old church Calcutta the old part
Of Calcutta is full of these Old Colonial churches There were so many denominations Methodists Presbyterian Anglican Catholic And so on And of course I'm now flying on to Delhi Which is the capital of India So I'm not going to show you the entire Video I'm just going to comment on clips Of various bits of video that I made This is a very large Ficus that I made For the host I'm staying with And cheering her late husband Has this huge huge Garden they are of Course Extremely well to do because they are Large industrialists in India and they Have a large five Acre Farm what they Call a farm and they love their plants So this large ficus I made in 1997 from The hedging ficuses that were grown to Protect the boundary And this was just dug out from the Hedge And I still remember making it to this Very day Of course it's 1997 oh it's a long time I don't think it's taken that much it's Just become more dense Because it keeps changing I need to keep Pruning it I haven't been here for seven Years every time I come I work on these Trees So here I am working on these trees
Trying to improve it further My host is now getting on in age she's 91 or 92 but she still loves her plants And of course they have about eight or Nine gardeners Several servants And this is a beautiful house beautiful Garden I will show you some more of the Plants Me working on the trees This is the other side of the tree Focuses are so easy to train for Bonsai Because they grow very very fast in the Tropics I made two of these large trees Ficus's Galore this is more focused I Don't know what variety this is Oh this is a Vitex Gun made from ordinary Garden shrubs and Plants because in India there's no Tradition of importing Bonsai from other Asian countries Another large Jade Is a huge dude Jay trees grow prolifically in India and Even in the north where it's very cold They still grow quite well In Delhi the temperature does go to About one degree Centigrade or three Degrees Centigrade But that's only for a couple of hours in The early morning or at night so they Don't suffer that much this is a muraya Moriah has got very hard wood this is a
Multi-trunk tree again this is something I made many many years ago So let me show you some more projects That I did This is One of the very long needle tropical Pines I think is pinus rocks burgie eye Very difficult to use for Bonsai because The needles are so long and this trunks Tend to grow absolutely straight bolt Upright so here I am teaching ajita Helping Ajit to make this into a more Interesting shape Ajith is the next generation of bonsai Enthusiasts his mother is the owner of This lovely property but he although Being a busy executive is genuinely Interested in Bonsai so I'm showing him How to wire this almost impossible tree Which is ever so straight and without a Great deal of character so let's see What we can make out and do with this Tree so As I said I'm just videoing Snippets So we are using very thick wire to wire It So we're going to put a double coil of I think this is four mil Anodized aluminum wire And we'll see if we can Bend this tree I'm speeding it up if you don't mind So one coil is not enough so we're Putting a double coil
So moving on we've put the double coil On and we've managed to get quite a nice Bend out of that very thick impossible Trunk So We will now see what we can do with the Branches As I always say nothing is impossible You can always Make a bonsai out of anything some are More promising Or have more potential than others but To say that a plant has got no potential Is not true So we've wired the trunk And we've introduced some movement into The tree And we've wired the branches as well So what was first A very straight trunk has now ended up With some movement in the trunk So With time we will develop a few more Paths it is possible And we will see what happens to this Tree in the future So this is yet another tree another Great big rocks Burger the trunk must be At least two to three inches in diameter But this would be impossible to bend but We can do something with the branches So So Let's try and make something out of this
Very difficult tree The only thing we can hope to do is to Give some interest to the branches the Very thick branches you notice I've Already cut off and made into short Gins And I'm now showing Ajit how to wire the Tree And make it an interesting tree with High branches not low branches but High Branches Pity the trunk is so straight If it had more character then it would Be more interesting but this is the Nature of Pines of this uh species Look at the long branches without any Butt back But I've seen people do make some Interesting trees with it as I've always Said nothing is impossible so let's see What happens when we add a little bit of Wire to it So I'm speeding it up so we're wiring All the branches literally all the Branches So you can see the effect and it's not A waste of time it's looking promising Already looking very promising To speed it up a little more Foreign S like this it makes you appreciate much Much more what we have in temperate Climates where the Scots Pines the five Needle Pines and even the Black Pine are Much easier points to use for Bonsai
Than the Rock's Burger guy Also called longifolia pinus longifolia So there you go This is what we were able to create So it's not a disaster so an almost Impossible point We were able to make something Out of it So let me continue by showing you some More videos There are clips of videos that were made But I won't show you the entire videos Because some of these run into 15 and 20 Minutes long and you would be frankly Very bored So this is the sort of material people Brought to me everyone seems to think That I can work wonders and create Things out of nothing I know I can work To a certain extent making Bonsai out of Almost impossible material but some of These are well now impossible look at This this is some sort of tree Juniper Not like the Chinese junipers that we Are accustomed to it grows bored upright But it is a juniper look at it it's just A mass of branches And this was about five foot tall I cut It down to about four foot but it's Still too tall and the branches are much Too thick so I'm going to get rid of Most of the thick branches So I was explaining to them what I would Do to it
This struck me as being a very Interesting tree and I will show you in A minute why it is interesting Like all these trees they are quite a Puzzle And it's interesting to see what turns Out so we will see So let's continue And show you what I continue to do So all these long thick branches are Going to be cut out You can't really do much with them People To say that this is a challenging tree Is an understatement because it's more Than challenging what will end up is Just the trunk and we hope that it will Butt back and produce new branches so All these long branches are going to be Literally uh cut right back made into Gins and we hope that these young Branches will take over the tree and They will provide branches which are More in keeping and proportional to the Thickness of the trunk It's amazing how many people do not Realize that when you try to make Bonsai It is always the thinner branches that Are used for rather than the thick Branches thick branches are virtually Useless for Bonsai work except for Dunes So you see these thin branches which are Left they will develop and become
Branches for this Bonsai eventually These thin branches here so that is what I'm leaving behind This tree has got a beautiful Spiral bark you can see how the bark Spirals around the tree so that makes it Very very interesting So the audience were quite fascinated They're really wondering what I would do So let's see what if ultimate outcome is It's a long process this is a tree that Took quite a lot of time to do you see That beautiful trunk That is the beauty the beauty is there So let me continue It took me a long while just to Get the branches off make small gins As you can see here I'm trying to make Some short gins And because we're not really repotting The street at all we're going to Recommend that the tree is kept in its Large container so it'll continue to Grow So I can assure you that it'll produce a Lot of these new Young growth from the Old wood very easily And then I used a Makita Die Grinder To start doing some carving So let's continue with this video I'm Just showing you a close-up of this Trunk the way the Box spirals I was Going to do a spiral gin so I'm using a Makita Die Grinder with a very
Benign bit to carve a spiral Shari Around the trunk so this is what I'm About to do if you study the tree Closely I had half a mind of keeping the Tree no more than 15 18 inches tall Instead of four feet and this base would Make a beautiful Bonsai so let me just Show you a little bit of the carving That I was trying to do As you can appreciate I'm doing a video Of a video and so I'm not showing the Sound So that's the false spiral Shari that I'm producing I did go further up the tree but as I Said I could have easily cut the tree Much further down and leave it a nice Short tree But as it's not my tree The owner would have had a real heart Attack if I suggested that Because 30 or 40 people wanted me to Demonstrate on lots of material I Usually just show the structure and the Design And the way ahead and leave them to sort The detail out Power tools are not much used in India Because not many people carve and not Many people know how to carve well So Carving is always a novelty I'm explaining how new branches will Form and create paths
So I thought I'd give you a flavor of What I was doing so I'm going to just Show you a bit of the carving [Music] Um [Music] Forward So I'm using the natural twist Yeah so you see how the Box So let me continue by showing you some More Examples of trees that I worked on This was someone's attempt at trying to Make a bonsai but as you can see it's Just a bush planted in a bonsai pot with Some rocks and this doesn't really do Anything so let's see what I did with it Even I was surprised so what I did was To separate that bush and introduce some Branches and Trunks which became visible So this could eventually end up as a Raft so that was the future direction That I suggested for this tree Now some more junipers I did I didn't Show the before and after on there that One Some big focuses that came for grooming And trimming I just made it into more of A triangular shape it was just a great Big ball shape Now this was a very interesting Juniper This was a very very tall Juniper in Fact this tree is only two-thirds of the Original tree pity I don't have a before
Shot of this tree but I can assure you That it didn't look like this to begin With it was just a great big bush so This is almost a complete article let me Just run through some of the pictures to Show you obviously the owners delighted This branch on my right hand was another Three foot long so I cut that off and Made it into a gin And that gin also bent it down by Applying a blow lamp to it and made it a Bit curly Sorry to show you these Stills but That's the best way of showing you the Progression of these trees So that gin can be bent So that was the Final outcome As you can see And that's the future direction of the Tree so I hope that gives you a flavor What I did I thought I'd show you a couple more Examples this is a great big rocks Burgie eye Pine it was just upright but I tried to do some heavy wiring to make It like a semi-cascade for the future So the top portion you can see I've Already made it into a nest shape so That's going to be the top and this Bottom portion is going to be a Cascading part so what originally was an Upright bush has now the makings of a Semic Cascade
So this was the end of the demonstration In Delhi on the 4th of January And the lady sitting in the chair in the Front is Mrs sridar who's 92 years old I Think and it is her premises and it is Through her goodness that the Indian Bonsai Association in Delhi are able to Use her lovely Garden for hosting this Demonstration As you can see again all these lovely Ladies are members of the Indian Bonsai Association [Music] And these are the gardeners and staff of The garden which I always like to show You And finally let me end by showing you a Garden I made back in I think this was 2005 that I made this Garden 17 or 18 years ago this is the garden I Also helped to design in 2005 Look at it I designed this waterfall and I made a Model So that it could be tested and worked So there we are This zen garden I would add was also Made in 2005 and it has remained Completely unchanged and unaltered in All these 17 or 18 years it is lit up at Night I'm afraid I didn't manage to get A night view of this Garden but it is Lit up at night and apparently they
Pride themselves in This being the only Zen Garden in the Whole of Delhi So there you go so ends my daily trip And I will move on to Bombay next I managed to dig up some old pictures From the past and I'm going to show you The contrast between what I did recently In Delhi This is a picture of me working on a Tree Back in 2007 I think this was the visit This is me In 2023 Now this picture was taken in 2000 and 5 on 2005 visit when I started making That Ficus it had just been taken out of The Hedge and we put it in a concrete Pot 2005 that's 18 years ago And let me show you what the tree looks Like today This is the same tree today you see the Twin trunk how it has developed In the 18 years Another contrast this picture was taken 2007 on my visit And I will show you this is the same table With Ajith who is the son of my host Same table different bonsai tree And yet another contrast I was telling
You about the model I made this model With some small rocks to illustrate how The waterfalls should be made And using this model I got the Workman To construct the proper waterfall which Is this So There you go I hope you've enjoyed this [Music] One that she asks me [Music] And I see this But you look wonderful tonight [Music] The same Walking around with me Let me see asks me You feel alright And I see us [Music] Because I see you In her eyes [Music] Sunshine beloved peace Thank you [Music] [Music] So I never lose Heaven [Music] Say my daughter [Music]
